Every time I plant brassicas, I do so with a mix of excitement and dread – while I am looking forward to harvesting the heads and leaves, I know that voracious and destructive green caterpillars are also going to enjoy this crop. Be prepared with some organic controls for Cabbage White Butterfly (Pieris rapae), so […]

Plant in full sun, says the label on the plant. But what does that actually mean? To me, a plant that lives in full sun should be able to cope with up to nine hours of direct sunlight each day. This means that they are usually woody shrubs (like Rosemary, Lavender), trees (stone fruit, citrus), […]

One morning while wandering around the garden I noticed that one of the eggplant bushes was heavily covered in aphids, lots and lots, all over the leaves, and even inside the flowers. A few years ago I would have done one or all of the following: tried to hose them off, used a gloved hand […]

After bringing your seedlings home from the garden centre, they will need a day or two to acclimatise. This is also known as “hardening off” and it essentially involves gradually exposing your little plants to windier, colder, and warmer conditions – so they don’t get such a shock when they get planted into your garden. […]